


after

by lynne_monstr



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - This World Inverted (Shadowhunters TV), Angst with a Happy Ending, Curses, M/M, Secrets, Tentacles, some curses are broken by true love others are broken by...yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28114494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynne_monstr/pseuds/lynne_monstr
Summary: Most children get video games when they turn ten, or maybe a cool selection of movies and a toy car. Alec gets a family curse.(He doesn’t want to die, but twenty-five seems so far away. He’ll be so old by the time the curse takes him.)
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 43
Kudos: 212
Collections: Tentacletober





	after

**Author's Note:**

> Written for last year's Tentacletober. Prompt: tentacles save the day.
> 
> It's not really a tentacle story, but there are tentacles involved so I'm counting it.

His time is running out.

The awareness hits him first thing when he wakes, the way it always does. And just like every other morning, Alec ignores it in favor of turning over and cuddling deeper into his boyfriend’s deceptively muscular arms. Who knew there was so much hiding under those unassuming cardigans? Alec thanks his lucky stars every day for the mysterious party-crasher who snuck into his gala and upended his life in all the best ways.

It’s been six months and Alec still hasn’t found a way to tell him he’s dying.

Which is a bit dramatic, even for someone who thrives on being dramatic. Alec’s not dying, not really. But his time is limited. It’s an immutable fact that’s been part of his life since the day he turned ten and his mother took him aside.

“It’s the family curse,” she explained, her eyes wet with tears she refused to shed. “Centuries ago our ancestors defeated the demon hordes that threatened humanity but it came with a price. You need to be brave, Alec. Can you do that for me?”

Alec kisses Magnus’ forehead and gets dressed to meet his first client of the day. One more day and then he’ll tell him.

.

(He doesn’t tell him the next day.

Or the next.)

.

“Happy Birthday, Alexander.”

Alec tries not to grimace as he blows out the candles. Magnus is beaming, and not even his monotone wardrobe and thick-rimmed glasses can contain the light that shines from him. Alec thinks of the reserved man he met that first evening and marvels at how far they’ve come. He blinks back tears, his hand seeking out the familiar dips and grooves of Magnus' body as he pulls him close. Committing the feel of him to memory.

It’s mortifyingly cliché that he has until midnight to make his peace with the world—what is he, the Cinderella of demon curses? How lame. But he plans on squeezing everything he can from the time he has left. At least while they’re hugging, Magnus can’t see the devastation on his face.

He doesn’t know how he let it get this far out of control. Alec should have told him a year ago when they first started dating. He should have told him six months ago when they exchanged their first “I love you’s.” He should have told him last month when they moved in together. Alec likes to think he’s a trailblazer, with his fashionable looks and his trendy parties. The truth is he’s a coward.

He should’ve told Magnus that today was the day he was going to die.

“I love you,” he mumbles into Magnus’ ear. His expensive watch counts down the minutes that Alec refuses to acknowledge. It’s a child’s hope that ignoring the problem will make it go away, but Alec doesn’t care.

He’s going to die in three hours, and he wants to spend them with Magnus.

.

Most children get video games when they turn ten, or maybe a cool selection of movies and a toy car. Alec gets a family curse.

After his birthday party ends and all his friends have gone home, his mother takes him aside and kneels down in front of him.

“All the legends are true and all the monsters are real. They’ll hurt the people we love if our family doesn’t stop them. It’s your job to keep them safe,” she says, eyes shining. Alec thinks she might be crying, except she never cries.

She reaches out to cup his face. “Can you be brave for me, Alec?”

Alec thinks of his friends and his parents and his little brother who still can’t talk very good. He doesn’t want to die, but twenty-five seems so far away. He’ll be so old by the time the curse takes him.

“Do I have to?” he asks.

His mother strokes a hand down his hair. “Yes.”

Even at this young age, he knows his life is a small price to pay for the people he loves. Alec nods and accepts his fate.

.

Years later he learns that there’s a way out, however unlikely. The curse can be broken and the demons forever banished if Alec secures a pledge of devotion from a demon with the same mark as the one who was the last to leave this realm.

He screams at his parents for keeping the truth from him for so long, packs his bags, and runs.

The year he spends traveling is a blur, jumping from library to library until his vision blurs and his head spins. His search comes to an end in a forgotten village in the south of Spain, hunched over an old and tattered tome that looks like it should be in a library rather than someone’s home.

It isn't until that moment that he understands why his parents never told him. The only thing worse than having hope is having it taken away.

Alec gives up on being saved when he sees the sketches of the demon Asmodeus. Even if he could find a demon, or even a half-demon, in this day and age, where would he find one with tentacles? It sounds more like a bad porno than a lifesaving miracle. He returns home and starts his own business. If he’s going to die at twenty-five, he’s going to leave behind something real when he goes.

There are no miracles. Only duty.

He learns that lesson the first time when he's ten and again at seventeen.

.

Perhaps he would’ve told Magnus about the old family curse if Magnus knew about the demon world, Alec considers after the cake is put away.

But Magnus is as mundane as they come. He reads his tarot cards, sure, but Alec can see it’s all for show. How could he tell his boyfriend there’s an entire world of angels and demons kept at bay by the generational sacrifice of his family? Even if he’d worked up the courage, Magnus would’ve left him at best and had him committed at worst. Alec would laugh at the whole thing if the mere thought of it didn’t make his throat close up.

“What’s wrong?” Magnus stokes a hand along his face, reading the turmoil in Alec’s emotions.

The despair Alec fights to keep at bay rips its way through his throat. “Nothing.” It doesn’t sound convincing even to his own ears. “Everything’s fine.”

Magnus kisses a line down his neck. “I know you’re lying but as an early birthday gift I’ll let you get away with it.” The gentle teasing is a far cry from the closed-off, reclusive man Alec first met at one of his parties. What a difference a year has made. Alec tries not to wonder what other changes he’s going to miss out on in the future they don’t have together.

He buries his head in Magnus’ shoulder, breathing in the scent of him. If these are his final hours, he wants to spend them right here. He tugs Magnus closer, leading him into their bedroom.

Magnus’ answering steps are heavier than usual. Reluctant. He can tell something’s wrong but is allowing Alec to hold off on explaining himself. Alec loves him so much he wonders that his heart doesn’t burst out of his chest and proclaim it to the world. Earlier in the day, he said his goodbyes to Isabelle and Max and his parents and Jace but he hasn’t had the fortitude to do the same with Magnus.

Perhaps it’s better this way. He can give Magnus one last happy memory before the curse takes him. One last night of gentle touches and whispered promises.

The back of his knees hit the bed and he lets himself fall, pulls Magnus to him and drags him close to kiss his lips. He can see Magnus’ confusion shining from the warm depths of his eyes, see the hint of a frown at the corner of his mouth. But Alec’s in too deep to stop now.

“Come here,” he says, pulling Magnus on top of him and letting out a sigh of relief when Magnus does just that.

“Tell me what you want,” Magnus says, his hands scrabbling at the hem of Alec’s shirt.

“You. Just you.”

Magnus gives himself over and Alec could weep except it would give him away. He takes everything Magnus has to give, takes him into his body and hopes that the love he gives back will be enough of an apology for when he’s gone.

He should’ve left a note, he thinks, when he feels Magnus shudder and slump forward, leaning his full weight onto Alec’s chest. It isn’t fair for him to leave without saying goodbye.

A quick glance over at the bedside clock reads 11:41pm.

Almost time.

_I’m sorry,_ he thinks. _I don’t want to go._

“Alexander, talk to me. Please”

Magnus’ voice is cracked and desperate, breaking Alec from his reflection. Even in this, he’s failed. Magnus knows something is wrong, and Alec isn’t strong enough to keep the truth from him when the alternative is seeing the hurt in his eyes.

He looks over and his world tilts sideways.

Magnus’ eyes. That’s….that shouldn’t be possible. It must be a trick of the light, except it’s not. No amount of moonlight filtering in through the curtains could produce that bright glow. It can’t be. Magnus isn’t like him, Magnus is normal, Magnus is—

Alec traces the thin skin around his eyelids, his breath catching. He always knew Magnus was beautiful but this is on a whole new level. “Your eyes.”

A grimace twists Magnus’ beautiful face the second the words slip past Alec’s lips. The moment snaps as he frantically turns away. Under the thin blanket, Alec can see his shoulders trembling.

He wishes he could take back the words even as his mind is reeling.

Magnus’ eyes are a bright, slitted yellow. Magnus isn’t human.

It’s the only explanation. Alec thinks back over the lessons his mother gave him in private, the histories and facts and warnings about the world of old. For the briefest moment, he considers that Magnus is some sort of demon sent to watch him suffer before the curse calls for his death. He discards it just as quickly. Magnus loves him, he would never be so cruel to him.

A bitter laugh scrapes his throat raw. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

It’s the wrong thing to say and Alec regrets it immediately as Magnus’ entire body goes tense under the covers. Alec is the worst sort of hypocrite.

Slowly, Magnus faces him. His hand settles on Alec’s chest but he feels light-years away. “I never thought I’d say this, but I feel like I should be asking you a similar question.” He pauses, deep in thought. “Most people run screaming about now.”

“I’m not most people.”

“Don’t I know it.” Magnus’ fingers trace a pattern through the hair on Alec’s chest. The shapes are familiar but Alec can’t place them. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

Something loosens in Alec’s chest. Whatever’s happening here, Magnus is still Magnus. The flirting is a relatively new thing for him, but Alec’s been delightedly encouraging it ever since Magnus began to come out of his shell.

Alec draws a deep, calming breath. The clock reads 11:51. Nine minutes left. “There used to be demons in the world,” he begins, the same way his mother began with him.

Somehow he isn’t surprised when Magnus nods his head. “I know.”

“My family bound the very last demon back in his realm. The magic that keeps our world separate requires a sacrifice. In every other generation, the eldest is struck down to keep the barrier in place.”

Horror blossoms across Magnus’ face, in the widening of his demonic eyes and in the tightness at the corner of his mouth. Alec thought he’d seen Magnus upset before. He’s seen him frustrated at clients and shy about meeting Alec’s family, but in this moment it strikes him that he’s never seen true grief reflected in his eyes.

Magnus shakes his head like he can deny the very fabric of the earth on his say-so alone. “It doesn’t work like that. That kind of magic has to be accepted in order to take hold,” Magnus says, as if explaining the different tarot cards in his deck rather than talking about Alec’s very existence.

“I was ten years old.”

Magnus squeezes his eyes shut. “And you would do anything to keep your family safe.”

“Yes.”

“How long do you have?” Magnus looks like he’s going to his own execution rather than Alec’s. It isn’t fair that Alec has finally found true love—true devotion from the man he wants to spend the rest of his life with—only for him to lose it all now.

Alec looks at the clock. 11:56. “Four minutes.”

A wounded noise claws itself from Magnus’ throat. “There must be something we can—”

“There’s nothing.” Alec blinks away the sting in his eyes. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. His death would save people. He never wanted to hurt anyone, let alone the man who held his heart. “Believe me, I’ve looked. Don’t you think I’ve looked? I have no choice. I’m sorry I never told you but I didn’t—” he almost can’t force the words out for how ironic they are, “—I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“No,” Magnus whispers. He leans, lips practically pressed to Alec’s own. “Don’t go. Please don’t go.”

“I don’t want to.” Alec clutches him with every last bit of strength he has, as if he can keep himself here by sheer force of will. It’s a futile gesture, a childish thought, but Alec has been so brave for so long. All he wants is this one thing. “But unless you’re also hiding some kind of demonic tentacles, there isn’t much we can do.”

Magnus’ entire body spasms and Alec wonders if he’s said something horribly wrong. “Magnus?” He’s even more worried when Magnus starts laughing. There’s an edge of hysteria to it, but also something warm and elated. “Magnus, what is it?”

“Demonic tentacles,” Magnus’ gaps out between heaving breaths. “Why didn’t you say so?” The air around his body shimmers and the next thing Alec knows he looks at a dozen golden tentacles extending from Magnus’ back to drape over the sheets of their bed.

11:59pm.

Alec stares. He’s pretty sure he’s gaping, mouth open and everything, but for once his life he doesn’t care about appearances. He used to dream of being rescued from this curse, back when he was younger and naïve and believed in happy endings for himself. It seems impossible that that’s what’s happening now. Surely he’ll wake up any minute and Magnus will be sleeping, Alec beside him preparing to pass into whatever horrors wait for him beyond.

Except when he blinks again, Magnus is still sitting across from him and his tentacles are still spread out over the bed. “Tell me what I have to do.”

For all the times Alec has seen him without his glasses, he looks sharper now, as if the trappings of a shy shop owner were nothing but ragged clothes to be shed at the right moment. He looks _old_ , not like an old man but like something ancient.

It’s like looking at a different man except he can still see the hints of the Magnus he knows. He clings to those similarities like a lifeline, afraid that if he lets go, he’ll be left with a stranger in his bed. He recalls the words of his mother what feels like a lifetime ago. Except it can’t be a lifetime because a full life was never something in cards for Alec.

“I need your devotion.”

Magnus lets out a soft huff. “You already have it.” A slight pressure on his wrist makes Alec looks down. One of the golden tentacles is wrapped around his wrist. Alec smiles at it.

Alec recites from memory. “When the curse comes for me, don’t let me go.” He swallows, and forces himself to add, “You might have to fight.” He hates the thought of it. His sweet, gentle Magnus thrust in the middle of a battle he never asked for. “Have you ever—”

“I wasn’t always a tarot shop owner,” Magnus interrupts with a gentle smile. One of the tentacles sweeps across Alec’s forehead, brushing aside a sweaty lock of hair. “I was there, in the days before the demons were banished. I can handle myself in a fight.”

Alec looks at him in a brand new light as Magnus throws him his pants. “We’re going to have so much to talk about after this.”

“After,” Magnus agrees, laughing against his lips.

_After_. Alec’s never had an after before. For the first time since he turned ten, he thinks of the future with more than stoic acceptance. He thinks of the future with hope. And then the curse sweeps over them both and there’s no time for any more talking.

They ready themselves to fight.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come chat at me! I'm on [tumblr](https://lynne-monstr.tumblr.com) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/LynneMonstr)
> 
> (Wow I feel like I came *so* close to writing a serious fic and then....tentacles! I would apologize but I'm not sorry.)


End file.
